ENGLISH

The council has a total of 18 councillors. Women represent 50% of the councillors compared to men who represent 50% of the councillors. Due to the fact that the council chairperson is a female she automatically chairs the finance committee and the management committee. Men chair 1 committee and a woman chairs 2 of the committees. There is no gender committee at the council however there is a gender champion and a gender focal person.

When the council started with the COE process the councillors were blind to gender mainstreaming. To date the council has worked very hard to mainstream gender in their policies and overall council and community activities. Both women and men participate equally in the council and during council meetings all decisions taken are on the basis of issues that affect both men and women.

In 2010, the Thaba-Tseka Urban Council became a Centre of Excellence for Gender Mainstreaming in Local Government. It has been 2 years since the relationship with GL started, and over the course of these 2 years, the Thaba-Tseka Urban Council has made a 30% jump in their progress score from when the first scorecard was administered to the current 2013 score of 65%. The initial baseline score was 35%. The progress is evident in the number of female representatives in the council.

With the help of Gender Links, Capricorn district council came up with a 365 day plan of action against all forms of gender based violence. The council has since started to implement the plan in all five of our municipalities. Each year, workshops to sensitize the committees on gender issues are held. Since 2010, I started involving boys in the Take a Girl to Work campaign, and as each year passes, the campaign is growing and receiving support from most organisations in the district.

My role as an official within the council has also assisted me to deal with issues of gender based violence in my community, but the workshop with Gender Links really helped me to understand the role that I can play as a man to end GBV in my community. The Gender Mainstreaming workshop that I attended with GL really opened my eyes to a lot of things. The facilitators made it very easy for me to engage with the content of what we were being taught. At the same time, though, I realised that as much as we know that men are the perpetrators of violence, I also saw how important it actually was to also see things from another point of view.

The Gender in Media Centres of Excellence Handbook has been developed by Gender Links (GL) to guide media houses as they work to mainstream gender in newsroom content and practice. The handbook draws from Diversity in Action, an HIV and AIDS and gender policy handbook developed by GL in 2007. This handbook, which is targeted at key decision-makers and practitioners within media houses, outlines a ten stage process that draws on several years experience of policy development and implementation.

I am not a professional climber, literally or figuratively. But, growing up in the mystical highlands of southeast Zimbabwe, I have had an enduring love affair with mountains. There is so much about climbing that is a metaphor for life itself.

This report formed part of an audit of the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development ahead of the Heads of State Summit in 2005.

This policy aims to ensure gender balance and gender sensitivity at all levels. The MBC recognises its responsibility to achieve the objectives of the policy and to act as an agent for promoting gender equality in the rest of society.